Since Bostonist has this week off (thank you, April vacation), we decided to explore outside the city limits in a little place called Watertown. With a list of recommendations from a friend, Bostonist has been out exploring all that Watertown has to offer--like cheaper rents, great restaurants, and convenient location. Bordering Brighton and Cambridge, Watertown is close to the city, without all the crime, crazy people, ineffective local government, etc. that comes with living......

In this city of ridiculously high rents and $10 drinks, Bostonist is frequently broke. We're lucky to have an amazing live music scene and lots of artsy and cultural happenings to choose from, but it can be tough to do without a serious hit to our wallet. Penny-pinching does have its rewards though, because we're always on the lookout for fun and free (or very cheap) events. As Bostonist previously noted, Boston's colleges and universities......

Camille Paglia is back, and just as verbose as ever. She'll be in town tonight promoting her new book Break, Blow, Burn: Camille Paglia Reads Forty-three of the World's Best Poems. Paglia burst onto the literary scene with her book Sexual Personae, which takes Western culture, post-modernism and almost everything else to task. Known for her iconoclastic ideas on higher education, gay culture, art, feminism, and politics, over the years she's managed to piss off......

In our college days, Bostonist was constantly assaulted in the student union by back-to-the-land types, begging us to please, please help them save the environment in some way or another. We were willing to sign petitions or even click our mouse a few times, but we drew the line when the president of our college's environmental organization asked us to help dredge the campus pond. Don't get us wrong--we return our empties to the packie......

Bostonist couldn't help but notice the difference in Bostonian attitudes today. Suddenly everyone decided to stop doing that whole keeping-their-eyes-trained-at-the-ground-and-muttering-swears thing. Naturally, we attributed this to the weather, seeing as we finally felt comfortable crawling out of our dank winter hidey-holes (spider holes?) today. You know spring has arrived in New England when the kids start doing scooter tricks in Copley again. It's actually really nice to see people (and birds) out and about, although......

Mayor Menino is calling on Boston religious leaders and city officials today to discuss the recent surge in violent crimes. Boston's homicide count is currently at 15 for this year, and it's only April. The mayor intends for this to be the first of several meetings this year. It's tough to say what is on the agenda, but it's likely that they are mulling over recommendations by the Legislature's Public Safety Committee. In February, the......

In an 8-3 vote today, the State Board of Education rejected the University of Massachusetts'proposal to create the first state-funded law school. The proposal involved the acquisition of the unaccredited Southern New England School of Law in Dartmouth, as well as a hefty tuition of $19,000 for state residents. Another highly controversial tenet of the plan was the claim that UMass could operate the school at no cost to taxpayers, which many found unrealistic. Although......

Poor John Paul II. The Pope did manage to appear at Easter Mass yesterday but was unable to speak. The Globe reports that "aides had brought a microphone to the Pope's mouth...he made a few sounds but was unable to pronounce any words." Many in the crowd were crying and applauding the Pope's efforts, which were obviously causing him pain. In the end the pontiff's Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sondano, delivered the pope's Easter......

If you're not too busy today on Good Friday (or celebrating your day off), KRS One is at the Middle East tonight. Considered one of the elder statesmen of hip-hop, KRS One is also known as a progressive activist and a vociferous critic of today's hip-hop. Luckily for us, he's stepping back into his original role as an amazing MC tonight, promoting his newest album, "Keep Right" with special guests 7L & Esoteric and Project......